peieto



D. PRIETO.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

No. 291,397. Patented Jan. 1,1884,

3 SheetsSheet 2.

D. PRIETO.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

(No Model.)

Patented Jan. 1, 1884.

WITNESSES Y E N R O T T A (No Model.) 3 S11eetsSheet D. PRIETO.

MUSIC LEAP TURNER.

No. 291,397. Patented Jan. 1, 1884.

INVENTOR.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY PATENT DEMETRIO PRIETO, OF MEXICO, MEXICO.

MUSIC-LEAF TURNER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,397, dated January 1, 1884.

Application filed September 20, 1883. (No model.)

To (0Z5 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DEMETRIO PRIETO, a citizen of Mexico, residing at Mexico, in the Republic of Mexico, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Leaf-Turners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention and form part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view, showing my improved music'leaf turner in position on a piano,ready for use. Fig-f2 is a front view of the music-leaf turner. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the operative parts of my improved device. Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of the leatturner. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detail views.

Like letters designate corresponding in all the figures.

The frame-work or rack A, which is designed to contain and support the operative parts of my improved music-leaf turner,serves also as the music-rack, and is so arranged that it can readily be attached to or removed from any ordinary piano or organ rack. At the bottom of the rack are fixed or attached two plates, I3 B, preferably of metal, which do not extend the whole length of the base of the rack, but leave a space between them, and they are beveled on their inner edges, as shown in Fig. 2. Another plate, 0, is attached permanently to the piano-rack or other suitable part of the piano, and is of a length equal to the space between the plates 13 B on the rack A. This plate 0 has its ends beveled in the contrary way to the beveled inner ends of the plates B B, so that the rack can be slid onto the plate 0 and be firmlyheld in position. Across the front of the rack A, and a short distance above the bottom rail, 1), of the rack, is secured a rail, E, which serves as a rest for the musie,and also as a guard for the operative parts situated below it and above the bottom rail, D.

Pivoted at the center of the frame, and between the rails D and E, are the arms or levers F F, which perform the principal funcparts tions in turning the music leaves. These arms or levers are adapted to be swung or turned in a horizontal plane and carry the leaves of the music with them. As the leaves of all books are adapted to be opened from right to left, these arms are adapted to automatically swing from right to left, so that the musician while playing or singing need not be interrupted to turn the leaves, as amere touch will suffice to set the mechanism which turns the leaves in operation. At the close of the piece the arms or levers F F are swung manually back to their position at the right of the rack, ready for the repetition of the compost tion. or a new piece having been arranged in position, ready to turn the leaves when desired. For turning the levers F F automatically from right to left, I use coiled springs G G, extending lengthwise of the frame, and attached to a rigid rod, a, at the right side of the frame. The levers F Fare pivoted to the rack by means of hubs H H, rigidly attached to or forming integral parts of the levers.

These hubs H H are circular in shape, and their peripheries extend over rather more than a semicircle. They are pivoted at their center, so that they extend back of the pivots, whereby sufficient leverage is obtained to permit the springs G G to operate the levers. The hubs H H are formed with grooves on their peripheries, which serve to retain in proper position cords Z) Z), (preferably of cat gut,) which are attached at one end to the levers F F on their left-hand guides, and, after passing around back of the hubs in the grooves, are attached at their other ends to the springs G G. The tension of the springs,acting from left to right, tends to swingthe levers F F in the opposite and correct directions. The ad vantage of thehubs H H is that they render the leverage nearly constant and uniform, so that the levers are not pulled baex with a sudden jerk and stop when the springs are pe mitted to act, but quite gradually, so that but little noise is made when the leaves of the music are turned. Also, they render the levers much more easily turned by hand from left to right. The levers F F are joined to thehubs H H by elbows, as shown in Fig. 7, so that the long arms of the levers all swing in the same '2 career horizontal plane. To insure the levers swinging back and forth in the correct horizontal plane, I provide a guide, J, attached to the lower rail, 1), which is slightly curved downward at its forward end, so that the levers may always pass over it.

The device for putting the springs into operation at the will of the performer, and for permitting only one lever F to be operated at a time, is shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 6. To a stud or projection, c, on the rack is pivoted a lever, K, to which is secured a catch, L. A flat spring, (I, engaging beneath astud, :13, upon the lever K,acts normally to hold the lever K in its elevated position, thus holding the catch L up, so that its point extends upward to close a notch or groove, 0, in which the free ends of the levers F F are held when they are turned to the right. This catch, then, in its normal position retains all the levers F F in position to the right until the lever K is depressed, which, lowering the catch L below the groove 6, permits the springs G G to turn the levers F F from right to left, thus turning the leaves.

To prevent more than one of the levers F being allowed to turn from right to left 011 the depression of the lever K, I provide a bellcrank lever, M. pivoted at f to the rack A, and provide on its upper arm a catch, N. This lever M is normally so held by a coiled spring, g, that the point of the catch N is just below the groove 6, the distance between the points of the catches N and L being determined by the width of the levers F F. The lev'ers F F are so arranged that there is a slight space between adjacent levers when they are in position in the groove 0, as shown in Fig. 3, and the point of the catch N is always directly under one of these spaces when the levers are held in position by the catch L. The lever K is provided with a projection, h, extending inward beyond the pivotal point of the lever, and with its end extending under the upper or horizontal arm of the lever M. When the lever K is in its normal elevated position, the horizontal arm of the bell-crank lever M rests on the extension h of the lever K, and when in this position the point of the catch N is just below the groove 6. When the lever K is lowered, thus lowering the point of the catch L below the groove 6 and permitting the lever F pressing against the catch L, to be swung to the left, the extension h of the lever Kis raised thus raising the catch N, so as to close the groove 6, and, passing up between the lever F which is just released and the adjacent lever F, prevents the second lever from escaping. \Vhen the pressure is relieved from the lever K, the spring cl returns it to its normal position, closing the groove 0 by the catch L, and at the same time, the projection h being lowered, the spring g returns the lever M to its normal position, lowering the catch N below the groove 6, thus permitting the lever F, which was held back by the catch N, to move forward to the catch L, in readiness to be swung to the left when the lever K is next lowered. In order that the catch L need not interfere with the swinging of the levers F F into the groove 0 behind said catch, it is pivoted at w to the lever K and is held upright in its normal position by the fiat spring y, which presses upon a projection of the catch, as shown in Fig. 6. Then the levers F F are swung to the right to enter the slot 6, their ends press against the beveled face of the catch L, and, the pressure overcoming the influence of the spring the catch is turned backward upon its pivot w below the groove 0, thus permitting the levers F F to enter the groove. The pressure of the levers F F being removed, the spring y returns the catch L to its normal position, (shown in Fig. 6,) retaining the levers F F in the groove 6. To render the depressing of the lever K, which thus controls the turning of the leaves, convenient for the performer, a chain, 0, is depended from the forward end of the lever K. This chain extends downward until within convenient reach of the key-board of the piano. A second chain, 0, is depended from a rod, P, fixed to thelefthand side of the rack A, and a rod or bar, Q, is suspended by means of these two chains 0 O a short distance from the key-board. A slight touch upon the bar Q suffices to lower the lever K and permit the leaves to be turned, and the bar, being of considerable length, will always be within convenient reach of the performer when it is desired to turn a leaf.

Another feature of my invention consists in the means for holding the sheet of music or the music-book open upon the rack. A vertical spring-rod, R, is secured to the center of the rack, and the center of the music sheet or book is placed behind it, between it and the rack, as shown in Fig. 1. This holds the book or sheet firmly at the center, and prevents any displacement by any possible jar which may result from the flying back of the leaf-turning levers. The outside leaves of sheet-music or the covers of the book are held open by pivoted side arms, S S,whieh can be lowered down out of the way when the book or sheetis being put in position, and by means of springs 'i (see Fig. 4) hold the covers securely back against the rack.

Still another feature of my inv ention consists in the means of securing the separate leaves which are to be turned by their respective levers, and the method of conveniently securing them. Each lever F is provided near its free end with two vertical rods, T U, one of the rodssay T, preferably the inner one-is rigidly secured to the leverF, and the other rod, U, is pivoted so that it may turn preferably only to the right in a vertical plane at right angles to the lever F. A coiled spring, m, normally holds the rod U in an upright position, and it is only lowered when it is desired to insert a leaf. The rod U being lowered,as in dotted lines in Fig. 5, the leaf is pressed against the rod T, and the rod U being raiser it is held securely in place by the rods T and U. The rail E is cut away on both sides,as shown at 0, Figs. 1 and 2, so as not to interfere with the free motion of the rods T and U upon the levers F F. The rods U U are at their base wider than the levers F F, which thus serve to keep the levers F F at a slight distance apart, and permit the reception of the catch X between adj aeent levers.

For conveniently inserting the leaves between the rods T and U of each lever F, I adopt the following method: Commencing with the lever F, which will be the first one to be operated, it is swung forward to a position at right angles to the rack, as shown in Fig. 3, a bar, V, with a catch, n, at the end, which is normally held down out of the way by the spring 0, serving to hold it in that position until theleaf is placed in position. The firstleaf being properly secured, the second lever is brought forward, and so on until all the leaves are properly secured, when all the levers are turned to the right and held by the catch L, and the apparatus is in readiness for the leaves to be turned when desired. The number of the levers F F is only limited by convenience.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is 1. A imisic-leaf-turning rack provided on its bottom with plates beveled on their inner ends, as shown and described, in combination wit-h a plate permanently attached to a musical instrument, and beveled as shown and described, whereby said raek may be attached to and detached from said musical instrument, substantially as set forth.

2. The swinging leaf-turning levers F, pivoted to the rack below the music-rest, in combination with a guide, J, secured to the rack below said levers, whereby said levers are made to swing in a proper horizontal plane, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a pivoted releasinglever, a spring adapted to hold said lever normally in proper position to prevent the leaf turning levers from swinging, aholding-catch pivoted to said releasing-lever, and a spring adapted to hold said catch in proper position to hold the leaf-turning levers, substantially as set forth.

4:. A pivoted retainingcatch, M X, and a springforholdingitnormallyinapositiontonot interfere wit-h the swinging of the leaf-turning levers, in combination with a pivoted releasing-lever, K, provided with a holdingcatch, L, and with a projection, 72, extending back of the pivotal point, said projection being adapted to engage with the retaining-catch, whereby the said catch is raised simultaneously with the depression of the holding-catch, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with a music-turning lever, of a vertical rod, T, rigidly secured at or near the end thereof, a second rod, U, pivoted'to said lever and adapted to turn in a vertical plane, and a spring, an, adapted to hold said rod U normally in a vertical position, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination of the swinging lever F and the bar V, provided with a catch, a, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of the lever F, the bar V, provided with a catch, oz, and the spring 0, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DEMETRIO PRIETO.

XVi tnesses:

Isamrr Mn'rLAcK, AGUSTIN ARRIAGA. 

